Roving-frame.



H; 0. NELSON.

BOVING FRAME. APPLICATION FILED 111:0. 19, 1911.

Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

WwmwM/a TH E? NORRIS PETERS 60., FHnrLlTh-l, WASHINGTON. D. c.

the casing held in place by the means con- UNITED srnrns r a rnnr ora ion.

I-IARlVION O. NELSQN, fill WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WI-IIIIN lVlIACHINE 'WURKS, OF WEITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

ROVING-FRAME Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 19, 1911. Serial No. 666,732.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Harmon O. Nnrson, a citizen of the United States, residing in Whitinsville, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roving-Frames.

The invention. has particular reference to the means for protecting and closing in the driving mechanism of roving frames, and its object has been to secure the inclosing casing in placewithout the addition of complicated or protruding parts, and in such manner that the upward contact of the spindle gears therewith cannot dislodge the easing, and so that such spindle movement will be positively limited by such contact, and the general ci'liciencyof the machine correspondingly improved, all as will be apparent to those skilled in this art from the description given below and the drawings forming part hereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows in perspective view a. section of the spindle driving mechanism of a roving frame with stituting the present invention.;Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the same frame and casing showing also the bobbin carriage mechanism and one of the bobbins 1n longitudinal section; Fig; 3 18 a detail of the preferred form of holding device; and

Figs. e; and 5 are modifications of such preferred form.

The spindle driving mechanism is mountedon a fixed rail 1, which is suitably sup ported. on the frame of the roving machine in the usual or approved manner. At intervalsqalong its length, the rail is equipped with a series of bracket arms 2, which form the journal bearings for the spindledriving shafts 3 as well as the footstep bearings 4 for the spindles 5. There are brackets, such as 2, on both sides of the rail as shown in the drawing, so that there are thus two driving shafts, 3, and two rows of footstep bearings with spindles 5 mounted in each. Each spindle is provided near its foot with a spindle gear 6, meshing with one of the correspending bevel gears 7 on one of the shafts 3,thr0ugh which driving connections the splndles receive their rotary motlon. The

spindles find their upper hearings in the bobbin carriage mechanism, the particular coI1- tion.

- thereby released.

struction of which does not of itself form a part of this invention. In the present case,

spindles 5 as well as for the bobbin gears 11 upon which the bobbins 12 are placed and by whlch they are rotated. The upper end of the spindle protrudes above the bolster tube 10 and bobbin, at which point it is tapered and slotted to receive the flier 18, the hub of the flier being internally tapered and keyed to match and it non-rotatably upon the tapered end of the spindle. The bolster rail also forms the support for the shafts 14 and the skew gears 15 by which the bobbin gears are driven, and also carries a gear casing which protects and covers these rotating parts. This gear casing is shown as of a usual design but, as will later appear, it may be secured in place in the same way as the lower casing which illustrates this inven- The lower casing protects the spindle driving gearing and also forms an abutment to limit the upward lDOVeITlG-Ilt of the spindle and assist in the removal of the fliers therefrom. Such upward movement ofthe spindles normally occursfrom the effort to re move the fliers therefrom when preparing to doif the frame. The fliers frequently stick to the spindles and the attempt to lift them off pulls the spindles upwardly out of their footstep bearings, causing the spindle gears to strike the gear casing, and the latter, if not specially secured in position or exceedingly massive in its design, becomes thereby knocked out of position, so that it is fre quently necessary for the operative'to take both hands to separate the flier from the spindle without disarranging' the parts of the frame. The features of this invention allow the casing to be readily separable or movable on its support when necessary without rendering it insecure against such causes of displacement andat the same time constitutes the casing as an abutinent for the spindle gear to strike upon, 'of such substan tial quality that by striking it the flier is 811011 casingis also sufliciently remote from the spindle gears as to be free from the risk of striking fire by contact therewith when under certain abnormal conditions the spindle gear is rotating above its proper position.

The improved casing is preferably divided transversely into sections, each of which is conveniently of a length which will accommodate about six of the spindles, as shown in Fig. 1, and the adjacent approximate ends of the successive sections are movably or separately mounted on common supporting frames. These frames, marked 16, are secured to the fixed rail 1 between the shafts 3, being conveniently formed of about the shape as shown in the drawings, the T- shaped heads of the frame being provided with downwardly and slightly outwardly sloped arms 16*. Each section'of the casing is divided lengthwise into a roof and two side-wall members, and the lines of division between these members are made to coincide with the lines of centers of the two rows of spindlesso that the openings in the casing which accommodate the spindles are thus formed in the edges of the-members. The top or roof member 17 is placed between the rows of spindles and rests by gravity upon the flat T-head of the frames. This member may be a wooden board, so that it can be conveniently lifted and withdrawn endwise through the space between spindles. The two side wall members 18 are placed upon or against the arms 16 of the frames, and each is composed of an upright portion 18 which closes in the side of the driving gearing, and an upper portion 18 which is turned over to meet the member 17 in a substantially horizontal position, in which this upper portion overhangs the row of spindle gears 6 so that it will be encountered thereby when the spindle is lifted out of its footstep bearing. The side wall members of the casing, on opposite sides of the frame, may be. duplicates of each other, and each rests by its ends on the supporting frames where it is held in place by means of two independent holding devices. One of these devices consists, in its preferred form of an upstanding lug or horn 19 placed near the end of the T-head of the frame, and adapted to engage in a slot 20 cut in the end of the sidewall member. When so engaged the lug or horn prevents lateral movement of the upper part of the member. The other holding device. consists, in its preferred form, of a laterally disposed lug 21 placed lower down on the supporting frame near the end of the arm 16 This lug is adapted to engage with anend slot 22 cut in the lower part of the upright portion 18,: and is intended to prevent upwardmovement .of such portion, for whichipurposezthe .under surface of this lug is preferably sloped, inwardly and up.- wardly as shown. in Fig; 3. The lastmentioned holding device, while preventing upward movement of the casing member, as just stated, allows the lower edge thereof to be grasped and swung outwardly and out of its engagement with the lug 21, whereupon the overhanging portion 18 may then be lifted oi the upstanding lug 19. The casing member can thus be removed. When re placed the overhanging portion is first placed over the upstanding lugs and the side wall portion is then dropped over the lateral lugs, to which position it moves by gravity, it being quite impossible to engage the lugs with their slots in the reverse sequence, or to disengage them exceptby first swinging the lower edges outwardly. When in place on the supporting frame the entire series of casing supports is covered and concealed from View, presenting an outer casing surface which is smooth and easily wiped. Impingement by the spindle gears upon the underside of the part 18 of any casing member is unavailing to lift the member from the frame or displace it for the said member fulcrums against the upstanding lugs and the-lower edge thereof is thereby pressed farther in the direction to engage it with the lateral lugs 21, which the more securely lock it in place. Instead of the laterally projecting lugs the same holding effect can be ob tained' by using the recesses 23 of the frame arms 16, such as shown at the left hand side of Fig. 4, or the lower end surface 24 of the arms, as shown at the right of thesame figure, with either of which the casing can engage by means of its inturned lip 25. In both cases it will be observed that it isthe downwardly exposed bearing surface which forms the holding device toprevent upward movement but permitting outward movement, and it will be also observed that this laterally disposed holding surface, as well as the upstanding bearing surface provided by the lug 19, may be made of any desired shape, extent or contour. Both bearing surfaces preferably extend full across the width of their frame so as to accommodate both ends of two adjoining casing members, and also each of these bearing surfaces is preferably formed by projecting. lugs on the frames as in the case shown in the drawings, in which case the lugs are cast as integral parts of the frames, it being thus evident that no special or additional parts are necessary for attaining the benefits above described.

\Vhile the side wall members of the casing are desirably formed of metal, and can be made of very thin sheet metal, itis evident they can be made of any other suitablema terial, and that various other changes and modifications in the form, proportion and construction .of the partscan be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention. w I' Claims: 1. In a roving? frame having a spindle and spindle gear, means for protecting the latter vented.

2. In a roving frame, protecting means for the driving gearing thereof, comprising severalfixed supports and a removable casing transversely divided into sections supported by their proximate ends on the supports, the said casing sections comprising roof and side members, and the side members being provided with end formations adapting them to interlock with the supports against separation therefrom by the upward vertical movement of the gearing inclosed thereby.

In a roving frame, a spindle and spindle-gear and protecting means for the latter comprising an upright side-wall member provided with an upper portion turned i11- ward to overhang the spindle-gear, in combination with a supporting frame for the said wall member provided with two inde pendent holding devices for holding the same in position thereon, one of said devices being adapted to prevent lateral movement of the said overhanging portion, and the other to prevent upward movement of the upright portion, the wall members being removable by first laterally moving the upright portion from its holding device.

at. In a roving frame, a spindle and spindle gear and protecting means for the latter comprising a support and a side wall closure thereon having a part overhanging the gear, and having separated points of attachment to the support, one of said points constituting a fulcrum bearing for the side wall closure under the upward action of the spindle gear thereon, and causing it to bind on the other point of attachment.

In a roving frame, the combination with the vertically movable spindle-gear, a support, a casing movably mounted thereon comprising sidewall members having horizontal portions overhanging the gear, an up right bearing surface on the support engaging and laterally supporting the said overhanging portion, and a laterally disposed bearing surface on the support engaging the upright portion of the side wall.

6. A gear protecting means for roving frames comprising a series of supports provided with upstanding lugs and removable casing sections slotted to receive the lugs in combination with means for securing the casings in position on the lugs consisting of downwardly exposed bearing surfaces on the supports engaging corresponding abutment surfaces on the casings.

7. A gear protecting means comprising a series of supports with T-heads and depending arms at the ends of the head, and easing members mounted on the arms with upper portions overlying the T-head, in combination with a holding device for said overlying portion consisting of an upright bearing surface on the support engaging a corresponding surface on the casing member and a holding device on the arm consisting of a laterally extending downwardly facing surface engaged by another surface on the cas ing member.

8. A roving frame comprising a vertically movable spindle and spindle gear, a freely removable casing member inclosing and overhanging the gear, and means for rendering said casing immovable to the upward action of the spmdle gear thereon.

9. A roving frame compris ng vertically movable spindles and spindle gears, a plurality of easing supports, a casing thereon composed of separate freely removable casing members placed upon and concealing the supports and means for rendering said members immovable by the upward action of the spindle gears thereon. i

In testimonywhereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

HAR-l/KJN O. NELSON.

Witnesses r Oscan L. OWEN,

Lnoiv H. I'lORNER.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

